SENNETT ESTATE (Upgrading of precinct)

Mr Chiam See Tong asked the Minister for National Development when will the residents of Sennett Estate and the other blocks in the same precinct get the upgrading of their precinct since they make up more than 50% of the votes for the People's Action Party candidate at the last General Election.

The Minister for National Development (Mr Mah Bow Tan): Mr Speaker, Sir, all private residential estates, including Sennett Estate, can apply for upgrading under the Estate Upgrading Programme (EUP). A number of estates will be selected each year, depending on the budget available. Last year, eight estates were selected. The number for this year has not been decided yet. Many factors are taken into consideration when selecting an estate for upgrading. These include the age and physical condition of the estate, the level of community bonding and support for the programme and whether there is scope for improvement. MND would invite nominations from all Citizens' Consultative Committees (CCCs) in June this year.

Mr Chiam See Tong (Potong Pasir): Sir, the upgrading of Sennett Estate and blocks of flats in the same precinct was promised by the Prime Minister at the last election. After having given a promise to the residents, do they still need to apply for upgrading?

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Mr Speaker, Sir, I believe that the Prime Minister did say that these precincts will be considered for upgrading, and in the light of the comments that Mr Chiam made after the election that his precincts did give more than 50% support to the programme through the votes for the PAP candidate, I believe that this consideration will be duly taken into account.

Mr Chiam See Tong: Sir, clarification from the Minister. Is it not a promise and a matter of right for the residents there to get upgrading?

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Sir, I do not think upgrading of any sort is a matter of right. We have made it very clear, first of all, that there are certain criteria that need to be fulfilled. In the case of the Estate Upgrading Programme, you have got criteria like age, condition, etc. And of course, there is also the condition that the Government must be able to afford to do upgrading. In other words, that there are budget surpluses available. First of all, we must get the budget for it and then, secondly, we have got to invite nominations and all the estates which are eligible for upgrading will then be considered together and the ones that are most deserving will be selected. There are many criteria, as I have listed earlier. Age is one, but not the most important one. Similarly, the scope of works. And the support for the programme is also one, but not the only condition. So eligibility of Sennett Estate for the Estate Upgrading Programme is certainly there. But whether it will be selected or not depends on whether other precincts or estates are more deserving.

Mr Chiam See Tong: If I get the Minister right, the Ministry of National Development does not take note of anything stated by the Ministers during the elections, ie, whatever promises they have made mean nothing to his Ministry. What he is saying is that, despite promises made at the election these promises are still subject to all the rules and regulations of the Ministry of National Development, which means that the promises are just promises and they mean nothing at all.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Mr Speaker, Sir, I think Mr Chiam should go back and check what the promise was. The promise was that all these estates would be considered for upgrading. There is still the need to satisfy all the criteria which I have noted earlier. Mr Chiam has always asked us how and why we select precincts for upgrading. I am now telling him that precincts are selected for upgrading based on certain criteria. In the case of Sennett Estate, it fulfills some of the criteria and certainly when it comes up, if and when it is nominated for upgrading, we will certainly consider it. But it must be done together with all other deserving estates and I am sure all the other Members of this House here would appreciate that we would have to be fair in our selection.

Mr Low Thia Khiang (Hougang): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Minister for National Development seems to be giving a different criterion now. In the election, we had the impression that political support is the sole consideration. He has mentioned in his main reply that there are many other factors like age, etc, but I would like to ask the Minister whether he can tell us what is the weightage of this individual criterion that will be considered for the selection of a particular precinct and, in particular, what is the weightage of political support for the programme.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Mr Speaker, Sir, I am talking about support for the programme. I am not talking about political support for the programme per se. I am talking about support of the programme in recognising the origins of the programme, the need for budget surpluses, etc. I think we have gone through this many times in this House with Mr Low Thia Khiang and many others, and I am sure I do not need to go into those details again. But in specific answer to his question, what is the weightage of each, I am afraid I cannot answer because we do not go by specific weightages. There are a whole series of criteria. In this particular case, the age is very important because obviously the older the estate, the more need there is for upgrading. But then, this is not the only criterion because if you go by age alone, then obviously you are only going to concentrate on one area of Singapore. Besides that, it does not mean that, if the estate is old, it is in very poor condition. Sometimes, the estates which are older are not in such poor condition. So again, we have to take a very considered view of the age criterion.

Then of course, we have things like scope of works. What do you mean by "scope of works"? It simply means that in certain estates, certain things need to be done which in other estates do not need to be done, for example, drains. There are some estates where the condition of the drains is very poor. So we have to look at that specifically because the Drainage Department of the Ministry of the Environment is also spending money on drains. So we have to dovetail it with the drainage programme. Last but not least, of course, there is the question whether the residents actually support such programmes, whether they have a sense of community bonding, a sense of community spirit. How do we gather that? We gather that by seeing whether there is a neighbourhood committee. If there is a neighbourhood committee, it is much easier to get the residents together to support the programme, to tell us what is it that they need, to get together to work the programme through and to implement it. So all these things need to be done and to be considered. It is not a paper exercise, as Mr Low seems to suggest, that we just go through and tote up the points and, after that, we make a selection. A lot of investigations need to be done, a lot of ground work needs to be done, a lot of discussions and interactions with other Ministries need to be done also. So this is not a simple exercise, as Mr Low seems to think.

But having gone through that exercise, we have to make very sure that the budget that we have for this is properly spent. There is a limited budget. The Ministry of Finance gives us a specific budget, say, $40 million for the next five years. We have found that the amount may not be enough. So we have got to go and ask for more money. Before we go and ask for more money from the Ministry of Finance, we have to be very sure about what the money is to be for, how the money is to be spent and to assure them that the money is well spent. So there is a lot of work that needs to be done. And I would like to assure the House that when the advisors put in their applications, we will assess those applications carefully and we will make a decision which will be of optimal benefit, not just to the residents, but also to make sure the money is well spent.

Mr Chiam See Tong: Mr Speaker, may I clarify with the Minister? When a Minister makes an election promise at a general election, does he make that promise personally, or is the promise binding on the Government?

Mr Speaker: You have one minute, Mr Mah.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Can we continue after the next session because I am sure my answer will not satisfy Mr Chiam? All promises that are made at election time by the PAP are promises that will be honoured. They are made seriously and all promises that are made will be honoured.

Mr Chiam See Tong: If they are honoured, will it be taken as more weight given to that promise, rather than looking through the criteria that he has just mentioned to the House?

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Mr Speaker, Sir, the promise is that we will consider Sennett Estate for upgrading under the EUP programme if there is support for it. If Mr Chiam tells me that there is support for it and I have no reason to disbelieve him, then that will be one of the criteria that will be taken into account. 1.30 pm

Mr Speaker: Order. End of Question time.

[Pursuant to Standing Order No. 21(3), Written Answers to Question Nos. 15, 17, 19 and 20 on the Order Paper are reproduced in the Appendix (Cols. 927-932). Question Nos. 14, 16, 18 and 21 to 24 have been postponed to the sitting of Parliament on 14th May 2002.]